Electronic devices such as printed circuit boards, multi-chip modules and electronic hybrid assemblies, as well as various component-level devices such as integrated circuits, passive components and active components, may be heat sources which require cooling during normal operation.
Two-phase spray cooling features the spraying of atomized fluid droplets directly or indirectly onto a surface of a heat source such as an electronic device. When the fluid droplets impinge upon the device's surface, a thin film of liquid coats the device, and heat is removed primarily by evaporation of the fluid from the device's surface.
Although two-phase spray-cooling is a preferred method of heat removal in many applications, housings which enclose a spray-cooled device typically require extensive sealing. Generally, a housing should have a maximum leak rate of 10.sup.-6 cubic centimeters per second at 1 atmosphere pressure difference, so as to maintain enough fluid for proper system performance over five years.
One advantage of spray-cooling is the high level of integration which may be achieved in electronic systems. As systems become more integrated, however, interconnections required for communication between electronic devices are often numerous and complex, and conventional methods for interconnecting electronic devices, such as physical mating of electrical conductors or optical fibers, may not adequately prevent fluid loss in a spray-cooled system--every physical, electric or fiber optic feedthrough which traverses an exterior boundary of a housing may contribute to fluid loss over time.
While hermetically sealing connectors to prevent excessive fluid loss is possible, such sealing may be prohibitively costly and may involve the assembly of many parts such as seals, lock nuts and clamps.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus and a method for communication by and between electronic devices which does not result in excessive fluid loss across a sealed boundary and which does not require extensive hermetic sealing.